Ohio

Officials have made the city’s interim chief innovation and technology officer permanent and have named a new director for the Office of Urban Analytics and Innovation. Both roles were filled from within City Hall.

Several Scioto County employees got fraudulent emails intended to look legitimate, and officials are looking into whether unauthorized people may have been able to access sensitive information as a result.

The Ohio House is expected to vote Wednesday on House Bill 646, which would create a Data Center Study Commission to better understand how these projects affect local communities.

Elizabeth Crowe, the city’s director of urban analytics and innovation, has been selected to serve as interim chief innovation and technology officer, a role formerly held by Stephanie Wernet.

The app is aimed at providing residents and visitors of the county with quick information, jail info, mental health resources and more. It also offers users the ability to submit tips directly to authorities.

A new investigation found proposals for data centers across southwest Ohio are coupled with apprehension from local communities. The facilities are resource-hungry and subsidized by tax breaks.

The auditor’s budget was cut after its refusal to join a countywide cyber program and contribute $1 million from its real estate assessment fund to help mitigate the cybersecurity costs.

A recently unveiled policy from Ohio’s Department of Education and Workforce contains few specifics and no learning standards for AI. Lawmakers say they intend to revise it in the future.

Schools in the state have until July 1, 2026, to enact their own AI usage policies. The new model AI policy is intended to assist districts, which can either adopt it or customize it to meet their needs.

Lorain County Transit has received a $2.7 million federal grant to expand its Via Lorain County microtransit service. The offering uses intelligent algorithms to serve riders more efficiently.

The state Department of Development’s BroadbandOhio office is poised to take proposals to build a middle-mile fiber network east from Mansfield to Canton, and west to Lima along Route 30.

Holly Drake, the state chief information security officer, will join the University of Central Florida as its CISO. She was recognized for her work this fall by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.

A unanimous vote in the Ohio House progressed a bill to make it illegal to own, with criminal intent, digital devices that have led to a wave of car break-ins across the country in recent years.

DigitalC CEO Joshua Edmonds says the Internet provider will continue to offer service at $18, despite the nonprofit’s fiber provider being sold amid bankruptcy proceedings.

At its annual conference, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers recognized Ohio’s Holly Drake for her cybersecurity leadership, while also doling out other tech awards.

Ohio Homeland Security has launched a new AI-powered system to make it easier for residents to report suspicious activity. It facilitates the uploading of video, audio, photos and other information.

Ohio’s AI-specific regulatory proposal, Senate Bill 163, has accrued some support from across the aisle and strong advocacy from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the state's top law enforcement official.

The TECH Mobile Initiative project will provide approximately 800 students at high schools and career centers with STEM education, training and credentials tailored to specific career pathways.